


Fairytale Ending

by Eldritch



Category: Hatoful Kareshi | Hatoful Boyfriend
Genre: Gen, Hatofulkink, Kink Meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-07
Updated: 2012-03-07
Packaged: 2017-11-01 15:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/358162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eldritch/pseuds/Eldritch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for a kink meme prompt. Full summary inside, since the prompt contains BBL spoilers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fairytale Ending

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Kazuaki tries to get Ryouta to keep channeling Nageki so they can be together again."

Mr. Nanaki looked tired, which would go without saying, except that somehow it seemed like a different sort of tired than usual. The look in his eyes was one of burnt-out weariness rather than a dazed, constant sleepiness. It bothered Ryouta to realize that he couldn't actually tell if this was a new development or if Mr. Nanaki had always looked like that and he'd just never really noticed before.

"I'm glad you're all right, Kawara," Mr. Nanaki said, and even his usual soft smile looked brittle at the edges.

Ryouta remembered the press of a scalpel against his skin, and wondered vaguely if he should be worried. No, he decided, they were past that by now. "Thank you, sir."

Mr. Nanaki cocked his head to the side, his voice going slightly distant. "Ah, maybe I'm going about this out of order. I should have said 'welcome back' first, right? Welcome back."

It was the same old Mr. Nanaki after all. Ryouta just knew enough now -- from seeing him at his most vulnerable, from the brush of Nageki's mind against his own showing him what Uzune Hitori had once been, _should_ still be -- to have a different perspective on everything. He almost wished he could take back that knowledge, because knowing was too sad. But Ryouta was done with wishes, so instead he just repeated, "Thank you, sir," and added, "it's good to see you again."

There was an awkward silence after that.

Well, Ryouta thought, of course it was awkward. All of his reunions had been. With Sakuya, at least, the awkwardness had mostly been on the other bird's end, as he'd tried his best to pretend that he absolutely hadn't been worried about Ryouta and Hiyoko at all, even as he was fighting back tears. Yuuya being alive had been a complete shock, and San and Anghel -- well, they'd been about as expected. But Mr. Nanaki...

The sound of Mr. Nanaki clearing his throat broke Ryouta from his thoughts. "Kawara, may I ask you a question?"

"Sir?"

Mr. Nanaki was looking at him with an sudden intensity that was completely removed from his earlier vagueness. His throat moved, but no sound came out -- he was hesitating. He was afraid of whatever he was going to ask, Ryouta realized with surprise.

"Sir," he said, more gently this time, "what is it?"

"Is Nageki still with you?" The question came out in a hurried burst, as though that were the only way Mr. Nanaki could bring himself to vocalize it.

Right. Of course. What else would Mr. Nanaki want to know? Ryouta found himself actually relieved to finally have the metaphorical elephant bird in the room acknowledged. "He was with us while we slept," he said slowly, watching as an unreadable emotion flashed through Mr. Nanaki's eyes, "but now..."

"But now?" Mr. Nanaki's voice was barely a whisper. His shoulders were hunched in so tightly that he looked even smaller and rounder than usual, which was impressive for a quail.

Ryouta had only begun to see Nageki after he'd been infected with the Charon Virus. Now that the virus was gone from his system, even with the transplant of Nageki's remains, Ryouta couldn't be sure that he would still be able to see the ghostly dove. There hadn't been any sign of Nageki since his soft wakeup call. For all Ryouta knew, he'd moved on -- though the idea of Nageki disappearing without so much as a goodbye sent a wave of sadness through him. "Nageki?" he asked, cautiously. "Are you--"

There was a familiar sensation at the back of his mind, like the tickle of wingfeathers. _I'm here,_ Nageki said. He sounded hesitant.

Something about Ryouta's expression must have given him away, because Mr. Nanaki's eyes widened. "Nageki? Kawara, is Nageki here?"

In Ryouta's mind, it felt as though Nageki was physically holding himself back from responding to Mr. Nanaki. _Mr. Kawara, you shouldn't let him--_

But Mr. Nanaki interrupted before Nageki could finish. "Kawara," he said, suddenly animated, all traces of his earlier trepidation gone, "I know it's likely highly inappropriate for me to ask you this as your teacher, but… may I speak with him?"

Asking your student to be possessed by a ghost was definitely inappropriate, Ryouta thought, but then again, so was attempting to cut out his liver, and he much preferred the former. And besides, Ryouta liked Nageki, as well as Mr. Nanaki, so as strange as the idea of temporarily giving control of his body was, if it would make them happy...

_But I'm dead,_ Nageki whispered. _He needs to learn how to be happy without me._ Despite his words, he did a terrible job of hiding the wistfulness that had crept into his voice.

_You're dead, but you're still here,_ Ryouta thought. _And everyone deserves a happy end._ All _of us. We can work out the details later._

_Mr. Kawara--_

"Sure," Ryouta said out loud. "You can talk to him."


End file.
